Shutterbug Staff

The Leica M8 marks the digitization of the famous Leica M line of rangefinder
cameras. The 10+ MP sensor, designed specifically for this camera, has a "native"
speed of 160, with a maximum ISO setting of 2500. Available later this year,
the M8 retains the classic Leica rangefinder look and feel, even down to the
baseplate cover removal for insertion of the memory card. Standard M lenses
made since 1954 will fit the mount, with a 1.33 focal length multiplication
factor. A new lens, the Tri-Elmar 16-21mm, has been introduced with the camera
as well. This, and all lenses made by Leica from July 1, 2006 onwards will have
special 6-bit coding on the bayonet ring, allowing lens data and special processing
instructions to be transferred to the image processor. Lenses made prior to
that date can be retrofitted with the coding, but can be used without it as
well.

Editor's Note: We received the following from the Ilford team and report
their release verbatim:

The news that the remaining aspect of the Ilford Imaging Group, the UK arm of
which went into administration in 2004, has been settled with the takeover of
Ilford Imaging Switzerland by Oji Paper of Tokyo, a leading paper manufacturer
in Japan for over 130 years, has been welcomed by ILFORD Photo and HARMAN technology.

Although HARMAN technology, the parent of ILFORD Photo, is a totally independent
company with no corporate ties to the old group, as a gesture of goodwill given
the history of the group, the UK company's directors have been assisting the
Swiss company and the administrators, Grant Thornton, to keep its operation
in a viable state.

The result is that the takeover has been successfully completed for an undisclosed
sum, and that Ilford Imaging Switzerland GmbH will operate as a wholly owned
subsidiary of Oji Paper Company under the continued direction of managing director
David Jones.

Other Ilford Group member companies around the world which also went down have
already been individually sold or replaced, resulting in a global network of
independent companies now distributing ILFORD Photo products.

"Judging by some calls we have received, some confusion has arisen due
to the similarity of company names," says ILFORD Photo's marketing director
Howard Hopwood.

"However, the situation is quite clear: it was the old group headed by
Ilford Imaging UK Limited which went into administration in August 2004. Following
this, the UK operation was bought out by the former management team which established
HARMAN technology Ltd as the holding company trading as ILFORD Photo.

"The Swiss company, which was the old group's inkjet paper manufacturing
arm, remained under the control of Grant Thornton until this acquisition by
Oji Paper. It can therefore be seen that this activity has no connection with,
or impact on, ourselves."

Kingston Technology Company, Inc. has announced that renowned documentary and
National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier has shared new tips for lighting
under less-than-ideal conditions at Kingston's `Icons of Photography'
Web site. In this month's tip, Rainier tackles illumination challenges
he has faced in exotic locations and explains how his lighting solutions can
be applied a little closer to home.

Denny Manufacturing Company, Incorporated is proud to announce the launch of
their new website www.dennymfg.com. The company's website has been completely
redesigned to allow customers to browse their wide variety of photography backdrops,
props and accessories like never before. In addition to an expanded online store,
the website introduces several all-new sections filled with useful and informative
content.

The third sale of cameras from the collection of the late James A. Collins,
Jr. brought a total of $708,000 and record prices for a number of rare items.
"The star of the auction was an extremely rare Leica MP-2 camera with motor
and two battery packs," says Chris Everard, one of the principals of Everard
and Company. "Only 27 cameras and 15 motors are known to have been produced.
Something like this comes up once in a collector's lifetime, and it set an Internet
auction record of $86,250."

Bogen Imaging is proud to announce a new education program entitled Bogen Café,www.bogencafe.com. The Café is a workshop environment offered to college
students that explores imaging topics in actual situations that are rarely discovered
within the confines of a classroom.

To kick-off each workshop there will be an evening lecture that showcases the
work of Steven Katzman, a self-taught photographer, author, and professor of photography
at Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD), Sarasota, FL, one of the top four-year
accredited art schools in the country. This highly motivational lecture will be
open to the entire student body and the local photographic community. The next
day will be comprised of two workshop courses that have been selected by the college
and is open only to the student body. The workshop will be followed up the next
day with a program at a participating photographic dealer.

The Bogen Café is a program that will highlight a special selection of
products from Bogen and the program's sponsors through a menu of scheduled
workshop presentations. The daylong workshops emphasize the importance of developing
alliances with companies that are defined by their products and customer relationships.
The co-sponsors include Hewlett-Packard Company, Hahnemuhle USA, Datacolor, Lensbabies,
Adobe, Wacom Technology, and Rangefinder.

Katzman is a living example that corporate sponsorships can enable someone to
remain at the forefront of digital technology. His workshops at RCAD have had
fruitful results for the faculty, students and the photo department's digital
imaging workflow. Katzman's first hand knowledge, expertise, and examples
are valuable assets for this new program. Never losing sight that the journey
is more important than the destination, Bogen Imaging and its co-sponsors are
there to provide the photographer with the tools that enable them to concentrate
on their creative vision, while Katzman provides first hand experience and examples
of his personal photographic journey.

Institutions and their students are at a point where they need to develop an alliance
with companies that are defined by their products and customer relationships.
Katzman believes that the relationship can continue to be developed, creating
new markets in the educational environments, perpetuated by associated resellers
and their customer base. With educational workshops at the site of the institutions/resellers,
such a relationship will be further strengthened and solidified, enabling students
to become users of the Café's sponsors' products throughout
their professional careers.

The Bogen Café intends to target 20 colleges and 20 dealerships per year
for the next four years, beginning August 2007. Anticipating a reach of hundreds
of photographers at each location, participating schools will be able to select
from the Bogen Imaging Workshop Café Course Menu, regarding which specific
programs they would like presented. Workshop topics include advanced lighting,
location lighting, fine art digital printing, large scale pigment printing, fine
printing, Adobe Lightroom, and more.

In recognition for achievement, each institution will select an individual scholarship
recipient. The scholarship recipient will have a selection of their work profiled
on the Café website, www.bogencafe.com. Each scholarship winner will also
receive a stable of equipment donated by the event sponsors, including a $1,000
Bogen Bux Gift Certificate good towards the purchase of Bogen Imaging distributed
products; a copy of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CS3; a Datacolor Spyder 2 Pro
colorimeter; sample packs of Hahnemuhle photo paper; a Lensbabies 3G selective
focus SLR lens; and a Wacom Intuos3 tablet (4X6).

Bend it Baby; Free your Mind and Your Body Will Follow, using the Lens Baby in
the studio and on location.

Defining the Social Landscape; On location at points of interest (relevant to
the area's social and historic community) using available and portable lighting
and edited in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

The Digital Darkroom; Up to speed with Adobe Photoshop CS3, and Adobe Photoshop
Lightroom.

The Large-Scale Pigment Print; Creative Solutions using Multiple Captures, Stitching,
and Sharpening for Inkjet and Prepress Environment. This workshop will include
creating ICC profiles for monitor and printer.

Delkin Devices has announced the addition of Scratch Armor to their Archival
Gold line. They are available in both CD-R and DVD-R formats. Scratch Armor's
protective layer is said to prevent scratches, scuffs, dirt, chemicals, and
fingerprints; making it the best way to protect your precious memories, music,
and important documents. The clear scratch resistant coating that comes on the
Archival Gold media prevents damage from the daily grind that CD's and
DVD's are faced with. Combined with Archival Gold's established
reliability, Archival Gold with Scratch Armor also increases the quality and
lifespan of your recordable media.

The Sigma
Corporation is pleased to announce the launch of the new 10mm F2.8 EX DC Fisheye
HSM lens. This autofocus fisheye lens is designed for use with digital SLR cameras
equipped with APS-C size image sensors. The Nikon version produces a diagonal
angle of view of 180°; 154° for Sigma; 167° for Canon. The diagonal
field of view of this fisheye lens produces striking images with exaggerated perspective
and distortion. The minimum focusing distance of 13.5cm/5.3inch, and maximum magnification
1:3.3 allows subjects to be as close as 1.8cm/0.7inch from the lens' front
element. This close focusing capability allows close-up photography and also it
is possible to make use of large depth of field that covers wide range of subjects.
The Integral hood blocks out extraneous light and the Super Multi-Layer Coating
minimizes flare and ghosting, creating superior image quality. The HSM--Hyper
Sonic Moto--ensures fast and quiet autofocusing and allows full-time manual focus
override by rotation of the focus ring. This lens is supplied with a gelatin filter
holder at the rear, allowing the use of gelatin filters.

Maha Energy Corp., the maker of PowerEx batteries and chargers, has introduced
the MH-C801D Eight Cell One Hour Charger. This international, high-performance
charging system refreshes old and degraded batteries and makes charging easy.
The MHC-801D features eight independent circuits that charge one to eight AA
or AAA batteries in any combination. The charger incorporates a large LCD screen
displaying the charging status of each battery. The English-language-based display
replaces traditional LED indicators.